


Somewhere Between The Lines

by Sxymami0909



Series: Where I Feel At Home [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Children, F/M, Friendship/Love, Future Fic, Gen, Marriage, Unrequited Love, Worried Stiles Stilinski, worried lydia
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-09
Updated: 2014-12-09
Packaged: 2018-02-28 19:30:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2744378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sxymami0909/pseuds/Sxymami0909
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Every day he watches her and every day she walks by him as if he didn’t exist. His love is real and he’s got his sights set on the most popular girl in school…if only she’d give him the time of day. As he listens to his son, Stiles Stilinski can’t help but think, like father, like son. (Title from ‘Good To You’ by Mariana's Trench featuring Kate Voegele)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somewhere Between The Lines

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** from Stydia-Fanfiction - Stiles and Lydia’s teenage son is in the same situation Stiles was in. He’s in love with the most popular girl in school. Stiles gives him advice and tells him about how he had the same problem and tells him how he can win her over.

Stiles grunted and rolled his neck as he shrugged off his jacket and hung it up on the coat rack by the front door. It was a quarter to seven and he’d been hoping to be home earlier, but there was some kind of animal attack out in the preserve and as Deputy he’d had to go check it out with his dad to make sure it actually _was_ an animal attack, which for once, it had been. The sound of dishes clanking together in the kitchen drew him from his thoughts and he stepped forward and walked through the foyer towards the kitchen.

When Stiles made it to the doorway he paused, a soft smile tugging at his lips as he leaned against the door frame and watched his wife putting away the dishes.

Lydia felt his eyes on her before she even heard him step into the kitchen. She smiled, but didn’t turn to face him, “Long day?” She inquired while putting yet another bowl into the cabinet, the feel of two strong arms wrapping around her from behind making her pause and grin.

Stiles smirked pressing his face into the side of her hair breathing her in. He loved coming home to Lydia it was his favorite thing in the world to do, well maybe not _favorite_ , there were definitely things he liked doing with her more but yeah. He pressed a kiss to her neck, “Incredibly long, exponentially long…extraordinarily lo--”

Lydia tilted her head back while reaching up and clamping a mildly wet hand over his lips, “I get it, it was long.” She replied amused as she slipped from his arms long enough to put the last bowl away before turning so she was facing him and wrapping her arms around his neck. “Hi,” she said softly as she leaned up and brushed her lips against his.

Stiles returned the soft kiss as he wound his arms around her waist, letting his hand come to rest on the small of her back. He broke the kiss a minute later and smiled, “Hi,” he chirped happily, “And how was my favorite wife’s day today?”

Lydia arched an eyebrow at him, “I better be your only wife Stilinski or we’re gonna have a problem,” she teased shoving him in the chest gently. He was a grown man and still such a doofus sometimes, but she loved him for it.

Stiles chuckled, “Like I could pull off having two wives, plus I already scored Lydia Martin,” he joked, “I’m pretty sure there isn’t another woman in the world who can hold a candle to my strawberry blonde banshee, so…” He let his voice trail off as he cupped her cheek gently, brushing his thumb against her skin.

Lydia’s expression softened and she melted into his arms. She leaned into his touch before turning her head and pressing a kiss to his palm. Sometimes she wondered how she got so lucky. She was thirty-three years old; she had a husband she loved more each day, a home, a career she loved and a son who was pretty much her world. Lydia couldn’t believe they had survived long enough to grow up and have a family and a life let alone one she was so incredibly proud of. “I love you,” she said softly as she held his gaze.

Stiles’ face brightened, “I love you too,” he responded instantly before glancing around the kitchen, his brows drawing together as if he just noticed how quiet the room was. “Where’s Holden?” He asked brow lifted.

Lydia sighed and stepped back shaking her head as she turned back to the sink and folded the towel over the facet. “Your son is in a mood. He’s in his room and he’s been playing the same song on repeat for the last _two_ hours.” She stressed. “He’s slowly driving me crazy…if you don’t get him to shut it off soon I’m going to have to take drastic measures.”

Stiles bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing at his wife. “Now Lydia, we’ve talked about this. You can’t go around breaking things just so Holden will stop using them. It took me forever to fix that guitar he was trying to learn how to play and we had to replace the Xbox in his room when you _‘accidentally’_ spilled soda in the system during his Grand Theft Auto phase.” He chided, humor dancing in his eyes.

Lydia huffed and crossed her arms over her chest, “That game is _revolting_. There are hookers walking around the streets and you get points when you run them over! Hookers are people too Stiles.”

Stiles couldn’t hold back the laughter that time as he gripped his chin and nodded. “Yes, they are. But before you result to these drastic measures you speak of how about you tell me why our son is locked in his room listening to the same song over and over again.”

Lydia shrugged as she leaned back against the counter. “I have no idea. I asked him and he just glared at me and told me I wouldn’t understand before all but running down the hall and slamming his bedroom door behind him.” She paused, “Your son is very dramatic.” She offered.

Stiles snorted, “A trait he clearly shares with his mother,” he added before pointing out, “Also I love how when he’s misbehaving, giving you a hard time or in general not being perfect he’s my son,” Stiles told her amused.

Lydia fluttered her lashes and shrugged, “I can help it if _our_ son gets all his bad qualities from you,” she said biting back a grin.

Stiles just shook his head. “I’m gonna go see what’s up,” he said as he stated to walk away before pausing and glancing over his shoulder, “And when I get back here I expect dinner woman, a four course meal baby.”

Lydia snorted, “You get Thai food.” She stated matter-of-factly.

Stiles grinned, “I like Thai food.” He said with a wink before stepping out of the kitchen and heading up the stairs to go find out what was wrong with his son. He heard the music even before he reached the top of the stairs and he held in a sigh, but there was a smile on his face. His son was pretty much like any 15-year-old. He went to Beacon Hills High with Scott and Kira’s son, Emerson, and Derek’s daughter, Erica, who was a year older than the boys. Some days Stiles still couldn’t believe Sourwolf had procreated, but that was a different story completely. Holden played lacrosse and luckily he wasn’t nearly as scrawny as Stiles was when he was his age, which was nice.

He seemed to have a lot of friends, which he must get from Lydia’s side of the genes because Stiles had never been good at making friends when he was younger. He was glad his son didn’t have that problem. He was smart and sneaky, two things that didn’t bode well for him and Lydia in years to come, but they’d worry about that later.

Stiles shook himself from his thoughts and finally made it to his son’s door. He reached out and knocked loudly enough that he would hear him.

Holden was lying flat on his back in the middle of his bed staring at the ceiling. He ignored the first knock, but when it happened again louder this time he groaned, pushed himself into a sitting position and called out, “I don’t want to talk about it mom!”

He watched as the door was opened and his dad leaned against the frame, eyebrow arched. “Well then I guess it’s a good thing I’m not your mother,” Stiles quipped as he stepped into the bedroom and nodded towards his son’s computer which was blaring some sad song he didn’t recognize on repeat.

Holden sighed as he lifted himself off his bed and walked over to his desk plopping down dejectedly in the chair. He pushed a few buttons, typed in a password and then lowered the volume on the song before rotating the chair around to face his dad.

Stiles rested against the edge of his son’s desk. “What’s up with that look on your face? Why do you look like someone kicked you puppy?” He asked while cocking his head to the side and folding his arms over his chest.

“We don’t have a puppy,” Holden dead panned before letting out another long huff. He reached out messing around with some pens on his desk before shifting his gaze briefly back to his father catching the look on his face. “I’m in love,” he said quietly avoiding his dad’s gaze.

Stiles pursed his lips as he watched Holden. The truth was he had known for a while that his son was in love. He wasn’t sure if Holden was just realizing it or just now admitting it to him, but his son wasn’t as discrete as he liked to think. “And you don’t want to be in love?” He asked trying to get his son to open up to him a bit.

Holden frowned, “It’s not that,” he looked up at his dad, “She has no clue I even exist. When we’re in school she just, she walks right by me. She’s too busy dating a bunch of losers to even notice I’m in the running. It’s just…Dad, I _really_ love her. I do and I know that’s crazy, but I’ve loved her since he day she threw a blue block at my head and I--”

“Wait, what?” Stiles frowned, “Hold on a minute…Who are we talking about?” He asked realizing while he might know his son was in love he was obviously wrong about who he thought it was.

Holden hesitated as he leaned back in his seat and rubbed the back of his neck. “Erica…” He said with a wince.

Stiles’ eyes widened, “Erica, like your Uncle Derek’s daughter Erica?” He watched his son shrink lower in his seat and Stiles shook his head, “Of course…why not?” He mumbled to himself. Lydia was going to get a kick out of that and Derek…well Lydia wouldn’t let Derek kill their son.

Holden shifted in his seat, “She’s amazing dad. She’s like a force of nature.” He told him his eyes lighting up as he spoke about her. “Everyone thinks she’s this vapid, broody, wonder bitch at school, but she’s not.” He said with a smile. “She’s smart, almost as smart as me,” he offered with a grin, “And she’s kind. She’s single handily beaten up four bullies at the school without anyone knowing because even though she pretends like she doesn’t care…she does.” He said softly.

“And she acts like she’s got this huge chip on her shoulder in front of everyone but when she’s with me and Emerson outside of school on the rare occasion that she graces us with her beautiful chestnut brunette presence…she smiles and laughs like an angel,” he told his dad wistfully before the smile on his face dimmed.

“But she dates these crazy losers at school and she barely talks to me there, not that she talks to me much outside of school either,” he pondered as his brows drew together. Holden shifted forward in his seat and glanced at his dad. “I just, I don’t know what to do. I think about her all the time and all I want to do is spend time with her and…she smells like apple berries fresh from a rainstorm.” He stated.

Stiles didn’t know whether to laugh, grin, or slap himself in the face. Had he sounded like that when he talked about Lydia when he was younger? It was a stupid question. Of course he did. He _still_ did. He’d loved Lydia since third grade and he’d always known that someday they’d end up together. He was too in love to ever imagine that they wouldn’t, though it was touch and go there for a while.

He shifted and stretched his legs out as he sent Holden a genuine smile. “It sounds like you know her pretty well,” he said.

Holden nodded, “I know her better than anyone. I see her, _really_ see her dad. I just wish she could see that I see the real her and I think she’s amazing.”

Stiles pushed away from the desk and moved over to Holden’s bed. He perched on the edge of it and watched as his son rolled the desk chair around so he was once again facing him. “You know, when I was your age I was in love with the most popular girl in the school too.” He told him with a grin.

Holden groaned, “Dad, not _another_ one of your ‘when I was young’ stories,” he said with a grin.

Stiles narrowed his eyes at his son. “I still _am_ young. Now listen because I think this is one you might want to hear,” he replied. “I feel in love with her in the third grade and she didn’t finally notice me until the summer before our sophomore year of high school.” Stiles saw a flicker of interest in his son’s eyes and he smirked.

“She was beautiful, smart, mean, misunderstood….brave. She was literally he most amazing girl I’d ever met.” He said softly.

Holden was leaning forward arms resting on his knees, “Well what happened? Did you guys hook up? Did she see how much you loved her?” He asked.

Stiles’ expression warmed and he nodded. “You want to know what happened do you? Well, I married her of course.” He laughed quietly. “I’ve loved your mother since we were kids…it took her a while to catch up, but we love her anyway,” he joked.

Holden’s brows drew together, “But I thought you and mom were friends in high school you were part of the same pack,” he said as if the information was obvious, which in their small group of friends it was.

Stiles nodded, “But that didn’t come until later. Your mother wasn’t always the woman she is now and I wasn’t always the man I am. We had a lot of growing to do individually before we finally came together and you, well you kinda shocked the hell out of us by popping up almost right after we got together.” He admitted with a smile. Lydia had found out she was pregnant with Holden during their first semester of college.

It had been hard, but they had an entire support system to help them especially considering Derek’s daughter had been born the year before. Kira wound up getting pregnant during Lydia’s sixth month, something that she and Lydia still joke about the boys planning it that way so their kids could be best friends. They hadn’t planned it…but it couldn’t have worked any better if they had. The kids had grown up around werewolves, hunters, and all kinds of supernatural beings and so they’d known the truth from the beginning.

Stiles’ son’s voice pulled him from his thoughts and he sent him a questioning look, “Sorry, what?”

Holden huffed, “I asked you how you finally got mom to notice you. Maybe I can do it with Erica,” he said eagerly.

Stiles chuckled, “Down boy,” he teased before his expression sobered up, “Honestly the best thing you can do to get her to notice you is be there for her. Be her friend Holden because all the best relationships start off with friendship. Show her that you aren’t just there because she’s a pretty face. Show her that you don’t have any expectations that your love won’t suffocate her. That she can be who she wants to be with you in her life.” Stiles was silent for a minute thinking back to all the times Lydia had passed him by and how many times he thought she hadn’t seen him, but really she’d just been scared to let him get that close.

“Sometimes we don’t give people enough credit. Sometimes we don’t realize they see us just as much as we see them, but they’re scared to show it. Make her laugh, make her smile, and most importantly don’t change the person you are.” Stiles responded his hands gripped the edge of the bed lightly.

Holden listened to his dad’s words and swallowed hard. “I overheard her talking to her best friend…she said she feels like damaged goods, it’s why everyone leaves…it’s why her mom left.” His hands clenched and he pressed his lips together. “I wanted to tell her it wasn’t true, that’s she’s perfect that everything about her even the imperfections are perfect. But I didn’t want to intrude or make her mad.”

Stiles chest tightened at his son’s words. Erica was a good kid. A little rough around the edges like Derek, but a good kid nonetheless. Braeden had taken off when she was two. She’d tried to stick around Beacon Hills, tried to make a life with Derek and the rest of the pack, but after everything she’d been through in her life she just hadn’t been able to deal with setting down those kinds of roots. She called every so often to check in, but Derek had raised Erica himself and with the help of Lydia and Kira. His wife doted on the girl because they were similar in temperament and attitude, plus it meant Lydia didn’t have to drag Holden around and try to do girly things with him, at least that’s how his son put it, which worked out well for everyone.

But he understood how something like a parent abandoning their child could cause issues. Lydia had been the same way to a certain extent. He shifted and reached forward resting a hand on his son’s shoulder, “You’re a good kid Holden. You can’t fix everything, but don’t give up. Just be there. Be present and not pushy or expectant. Be her friend, encourage her but also don’t sit on the sidelines in life. Join in, date people, experience things and make your own mistakes…but don’t even for one minute let her think that even if you are moving on you’ve forgotten about her. Your heart is big enough to hold on to your love for her and to care about someone else.” He explained softly. Stiles had almost lost Lydia when Malia came into the picture and even after all this time he still wasn’t proud of the way he had treated her.

Holden watched his father for a minute and then smiled, “Thanks dad,” he replied his body relaxing. He was actually feeling a lot better about things.

Lydia stood outside the bedroom door, moisture filling her eyes as she listened to her husband and son talk. It seemed like some things hadn’t changed and she was just as oblivious as she was when she was younger. She’d had no idea Holden cared so much for Erica. But the thought actually warmed her heart.

Lydia swallowed hard pushing back her emotions not wanting them to think she’d been eavesdropping. She straightened up and knocked on the half open door, ducking her head in slightly, “Hey, you boys want some dessert? There is a mess of ice cream calling my name downstairs and I’ll feel less fat if I don’t eat it all alone.” She told them with a grin.

Stiles caught the hint of redness around her eyes and he knew she’d been there for longer than she was hinting. He pushed himself off the bed and grinned as he walked over to her. “Well I wouldn’t want you to feel fat.” He teased as closed the distance between them and wrapped an arm around her pressing a kiss to the side of her head as he glanced at their son. “Coming?”

Holden glanced at his parents, the way they instinctively moved into the other, the way his dad looked at his mom and vice versa…that was the kind of love he wanted and maybe that sounded stupid because he was fifteen and fifteen year old boys didn’t dream of love and marriage. But every once in a while he kinda did. Holden nodded. “Yeah, I’m coming, let me just shut down my computer…I’ll be right down.” He told them.

Stiles nodded as he tugged Lydia towards the, “See you in a bit,” he said before ducking out of the bedroom and into the hallway, his gaze shifting towards his wife as they walked to the stairs. “So, tell me, how long were you standing there really?” He asked teasingly.

Lydia rolled her eyes, but her expression as soft as she leaned into him, hugging his midsection and pressing a kiss to his shoulder, “Long enough to know that I lucked and wound up with the best husband in the world.” She paused at the top of the steps turning to face him. She reached up and cupped his cheek, “Thanks for not giving up on me,” she whispered.

Stiles tugged her closer his expression turning serious, “I’d never give up on you or use Lyds, ever.” He responded fiercely. “I love you, more now than ever.”

“I love you, too.” Lydia replied immediately before tilting her head up capturing his lips with hers in a soft kiss, all the while thinking that she’d have to come up with a plan to help get Holden and Erica together.


End file.
